Discovery of an optical bow-shock around pulsar B0740-28

D. H. Jones; B. W. Stappers; B. M. Gaensler

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020651

Discovery of an optical bow-shock around pulsar B0740-28

D. H. Jones^*, B. W. Stappers, B. M. Gaensler

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report the discovery of a faint Hα pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by the radio pulsar B0740-28. The characteristic bow-shock morphology of the PWN implies a direction of motion consistent with the previously measured velocity vector for the pulsar. The PWN has a flux density more than an order of magnitude lower than for the PWNe seen around other pulsars, but, for a distance 2 kpc, it is consistent with propagation through a medium of atomic density n_H ∼ 0.25 cm^-3, and neutral fraction of 1%. The morphology of the PWN in the area close to the pulsar is distinct from that in downstream regions, as is also seen for the PWN powered by PSR B2224+65. In particular, the PWN associated with PSR B0740-28 appears to close at its rear, suggesting that the pulsar has recently passed through a transition from low density to high density ambient gas. The faintness of this source underscores that deep searches are needed to find further examples of optical pulsar nebulae.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	L1-L5
Number of pages	5
Journal	Astronomy and Astrophysics
Volume	389
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20020651
Publication status	Published - 2002
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

ISM: general
Pulsars: individual: B0740-28

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title = "Discovery of an optical bow-shock around pulsar B0740-28",

abstract = "We report the discovery of a faint Hα pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by the radio pulsar B0740-28. The characteristic bow-shock morphology of the PWN implies a direction of motion consistent with the previously measured velocity vector for the pulsar. The PWN has a flux density more than an order of magnitude lower than for the PWNe seen around other pulsars, but, for a distance 2 kpc, it is consistent with propagation through a medium of atomic density nH ∼ 0.25 cm-3, and neutral fraction of 1%. The morphology of the PWN in the area close to the pulsar is distinct from that in downstream regions, as is also seen for the PWN powered by PSR B2224+65. In particular, the PWN associated with PSR B0740-28 appears to close at its rear, suggesting that the pulsar has recently passed through a transition from low density to high density ambient gas. The faintness of this source underscores that deep searches are needed to find further examples of optical pulsar nebulae.",

keywords = "ISM: general, Pulsars: individual: B0740-28",

author = "Jones, {D. H.} and Stappers, {B. W.} and Gaensler, {B. M.}",

year = "2002",

doi = "10.1051/0004-6361:20020651",

language = "English",

volume = "389",

pages = "L1--L5",

journal = "Astronomy and Astrophysics",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Discovery of an optical bow-shock around pulsar B0740-28

AU - Jones, D. H.

AU - Stappers, B. W.

AU - Gaensler, B. M.

PY - 2002

Y1 - 2002

N2 - We report the discovery of a faint Hα pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by the radio pulsar B0740-28. The characteristic bow-shock morphology of the PWN implies a direction of motion consistent with the previously measured velocity vector for the pulsar. The PWN has a flux density more than an order of magnitude lower than for the PWNe seen around other pulsars, but, for a distance 2 kpc, it is consistent with propagation through a medium of atomic density nH ∼ 0.25 cm-3, and neutral fraction of 1%. The morphology of the PWN in the area close to the pulsar is distinct from that in downstream regions, as is also seen for the PWN powered by PSR B2224+65. In particular, the PWN associated with PSR B0740-28 appears to close at its rear, suggesting that the pulsar has recently passed through a transition from low density to high density ambient gas. The faintness of this source underscores that deep searches are needed to find further examples of optical pulsar nebulae.

AB - We report the discovery of a faint Hα pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by the radio pulsar B0740-28. The characteristic bow-shock morphology of the PWN implies a direction of motion consistent with the previously measured velocity vector for the pulsar. The PWN has a flux density more than an order of magnitude lower than for the PWNe seen around other pulsars, but, for a distance 2 kpc, it is consistent with propagation through a medium of atomic density nH ∼ 0.25 cm-3, and neutral fraction of 1%. The morphology of the PWN in the area close to the pulsar is distinct from that in downstream regions, as is also seen for the PWN powered by PSR B2224+65. In particular, the PWN associated with PSR B0740-28 appears to close at its rear, suggesting that the pulsar has recently passed through a transition from low density to high density ambient gas. The faintness of this source underscores that deep searches are needed to find further examples of optical pulsar nebulae.

KW - ISM: general

KW - Pulsars: individual: B0740-28

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U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361:20020651

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361:20020651

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0036307411

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 389

SP - L1-L5

JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics

IS - 1

ER -

Discovery of an optical bow-shock around pulsar B0740-28

Abstract

Keywords

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